LOT #47018 |
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Twenty-Star United States Flag. Circa 1818....
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Sold on Dec 1, 2022 for:
$30,000.00
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Description
A Rare 20-Star American Flag, Gifted to Politician John W. Davis and Carried to the New Western Territories
Twenty-Star United States Flag. Circa 1818. 28.5 x 53
inches (72.39 x 134.62 cm). Wool muslin, hand-stitched with cream
thread and flat-felled seams. Featuring thirteen alternating red
and white horizontal stripes of varying width and twenty cotton
five-point stars (point to point: 2.25 inches, 57 mm) on a navy
canton, set in four rows of five stars each. The hoist edge of the
flag is bound with white cotton (1.4 inches, 36 mm) and three
whip-stitched eyelets to the top, bottom, and middle. The flag
presents a minor contemporary patch to the lowest red stripe and a
contemporary stitch repair to the topmost eyelet of the hoist.This particular flag reportedly belonged to John Wesley Davis, a member of the Indiana legislature and later U.S. Congress, and was gifted to him after the territory was granted statehood and a place on the national flag. Shortly after this time, Davis was appointed as sixth Governor of the new Oregon Territory by President Franklin Pierce, and he carried the flag west with him.
Twenty-star flags are extremely uncommon and rarely come to market. This twenty-star example was created with the Flag Act of 1818, which recognized the difficulty of adding a star and stripe for each new state, and instead returned the flag to the original thirteen stripes (representing the thirteen colonies) and twenty stars for the twenty states in the Union at the time. The five new stars on this flag recognized officially the entry of the states of Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803), Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), and Mississippi (1817).
The flag is accompanied by a four-page letter of authentication and analysis by Howard Madaus of "Old Glory" Flag Consultants dated April 2001. He identified this flag as authentic, dating from the period of 1818-1819, and "an important piece of Americana."
The Oregon Historical Society notes of this flag: "We believe that your 20-star flag must have been manufactured sometimes between December 10, 1817, and July 4, 1819. The 20th state in the Union, Mississippi, was admitted on December 10, 1817. Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, as the 21st state." The Flag Act of 1818 states that "...that on the admission of every state in to the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such additional shall take effect on the fourth of July next succeeding."
[Together with:] A contemporary manuscript obituary for Henry Davis kept with the flag and a two-page letter and copies of biographical material for John W. Davis supplied by the Oregon Historical Society.
Condition: Age darkened and worn. A few stars toned. Three circular stains to stripes. Scattered irregular spots of loss. The entire flag has been archivally backed with finely woven cotton cloth matching contemporary muslin colors, with each area of loss very finely whip-stitched into place; the entire piece also finely whip-stitched to linen (with the exception of the bottom edge) and mounted to a foam board.
Provenance: The flag was bequeathed to John W. Davis' son, Henry Benton Davis (1842- 1901), and thence by descent.
Auction Info
2022 December 1 Historical Platinum Session Signature® Auction #6267 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2022
1st
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 731
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.
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